Population Structure & Genetic Improvement in Livestock

The genetic improvement of livestock has been a hot topic for almost a century, bringing together researchers, industry, and producers to work towards a common goal. Many countries currently employ extensive genetic selection programs in their cattle with pigs, sheep, and chicken close behind. In this webcast, Heather J. Huson, Ph.D. from Cornell University will focus on population dynamics and trait association in cattle and goats using high density SNP datasets. Population structure plays a critical role in understanding the relatedness among livestock, ancestral origins of traits, and identification of unique sub-populations or breeds for production improvement and conservation. This also lays the foundation for understanding and improving species such as the goat which is a vital food source in developing countries but has little recorded production or health data. Understanding population structure is essential for designing complex trait association studies such as those related to production and health characteristics. Here, Huson shows examples of her lab's investigation into population structure in both goats and cattle to identify distinct groups and study traits such as thermo-tolerance.

39.
PCA of African Countries Only
Principle Component 1
EV = 13.65
By Country By Breed

40.
3 African Countries & NZ Boer

41.
Signature of Selection- FST

42.
Outcomes
• Both body size and genetic investigation show variation among goat
breeds
– Level of significance?
• Genomic analysis of population structure through PCA shows both
country and breed divergence
– Further investigation into development of breeds and migration
may provide insight into divergence patterns
• Genomic analysis demonstrates potential regions of the genome
under selective pressure distinguishing African and European
ancestry